Professional relationships are important. And the one you have with your dental team can make the difference between highly effective and low-cost interventions, or invasive and expensive care. There are some general pitfalls and good practices that will save you so much inconvenience and discomfort in the long term. Here, the relationship that you can have between yourself and your dental team is explored. Highlighting advantages along the way!
What you can get out of your local clinic
Many services which people seek are transactionally based. You may go onto a second hand site to purchase a car. Or you may be online looking for a hairdresser. A dentist Stevenage offers more than a simple transaction. This is because as a local service, it needs to be embedded into communities with strong direct relationships with its patients. Something that cannot truly be scaled up into online stores.
When that relationship is well forged with mutual trust and respect, it’s difficult to overstate the value and impact it can have on your oral health.
How it can go wrong
Relationships can come to loggerheads because sometimes people just don’t gel well. And what one party might say is seen as encouragement by one persona. And another may see it as berating or even bullying. Alternatively, a softly spoken or supportive environment may be seen as overly permissive, resulting in sound and important advice being ignored.
The majority of dental clinics have many dental professionals and hygienists in the clinic. So it is often possible to see another dental practitioner without changing surgery. If you speak to the practice manager or principal dental team, they will attempt to pair you with a more suitable dental team. It is not worth risking your oral health because of a disagreement.
Letting the clinicians serve you
Many people experience a sort of bashful awkwardness when interacting with dental professionals. They may feel immediately small, less-than their dental team, and will feel inclined to appease them, rather than talk directly and productively. If that speaks to you, it might be useful to remember that you’ve hired a dental team to provide a service. And that’s for the brief period of time you are together; they are your paid-for advisor and guide. Not an authority figure that needs to be acquiesced to. And not one that should be feared.
Becoming a receptive student
Another common patients is being hard-headed or overly self-reliant. In many endeavours of life, these can be extremely helpful skills, allowing you to stay focused. Unfortunately, it is more detrimental than useful when it’s applied to your patient dental relationship. If you fully understand the situation and your oral health is perfect, you might not be hiring the services of your local clinic. Therefore, you should see your dental professional as a tutor. And it would be wise for your role to be a receptive student. They can bring you to the river but they can’t make you drink!
Dental anxiety and phobias
If you have dental anxiety, it’s important to let your dental team know as soon as possible, preferably when registering. Dental anxiety is extremely common and many clinics have procedures prepared, including an extremely welcoming bedside manner. As well as allowing for sedation during procedures and longer treatment slots when required. All treatments need to be fully explained and no procedures will be carried out without explicit consent. You are always in control.